Bridge-plate for railway-joints



(No Model.)

T. J. BUSH.

BRIDGE PLATE FOR RAILWAY JOINTS, 8w. No. 366,815. Patented July 19,1887.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR: 0 A

. m/v BMW/It I BY ATTORNEYS.

N PETERS. Phoxo-mho ra nur, Washinglon. DVCS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFI E.

THOMAS J. BUSH, OF LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY.

BRIDGE-PLATE FOR RAILWAY-JOINTS, 84c.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent No. 366,815,dated July 19, 1887.

Application filed July 9. 1896. Serial No. 207.008.

(No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS J. BUSH, of Lexington, in the county of Fayettc'and State of Kentucky, have invented a new and Improved Bridge-Plate'for Railway-Joints, &c., of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

tel'erence isto be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure l is a side elevation ofa railway-j oint formed with my new bridge-plate. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional elevation of the same on the line we; of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the lower surface of the bridge-plate.

The invention will first be described in connection with the drawings, and then pointed out in the claims.

The bridge-plate A is formed of a single plate of metal strengthened with the central curved side flanges, a, swaged from the edges of the plate in such manner that the flanges have a truss action and strengthen the plate at its center, and also at the angles aa. The tlat portions 1) of the bridge-plate,in forming a railwayjoint, are adapted to rest upon the cross-tics B, where the plate is secured by spikes or bolts 0 0, passed through the orificescc in the plate and into the erosstics. In the form of joint shown in the drawings the bolts 0 are bent interlocking bolts, inserted in diagonal intersecting holes bored in the cross-ties and provided with nuts (I at their outer ends,whicl1 screw down upon clamp-plates D D, which rest upon the flat portions 1) of the bridge-plate and the flanges of the rails E E; so the clamp plates and bolts secure the rails and bridgeplate firmly to the cross-tics. Between the clamp-plates D D are secured to the webs of the rails E the fish-plates F, the ends of which are contiguous to the said clamp-plates, so that they prevent the rails from creeping to anymaterial extent. To prevent the clampplates D from displacement, and to facilitate the putting of them down, I form the bridge plate A with the upwardly-prcjeeting lipsce, against which the outer edges of the clamps rest, as shown clearly in Fig. 2.

By swaging the flanges a downward from v the body of the bridge-plate, and with lateral curvature, they form an elastic trussthat is to say, the plate being supported at its ends and loaded at the center, the tension along the lower or edge curve of the flanges causes said lateral curvature to tend more or less to straighten, or, on the other hand, to take more curve, (the strain being reversed) the result being an elastic truss calculated to adapt itself to the wave ofdcfleetion as said wave passes through the joint of the track.

Having thus described myiuvention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The bridge plate A, formed with the curved strengthening-flauges a and flat surfaces b, in combination with the clamp-plates D D and interlocking bolts 0 O, substantially as described} 2. The plate A, formed with the curved strengthoiling-flanges a and upwardly-projecting lips c,sl'1bstantiallyas and for the purposes set forth.

THOMAS J. BUSH.

i tnesses:

II. A. lVEs'r, EDGAR TATE. 

